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SINGAPORE — We see them and use them every day, but here are some cool facts about those holdalls we love.

SINGAPORE — We see them and use them every day, but here are some cool facts about those holdalls we love.

ANIMAL IMPACT

The first few materials used were varying lengths of raw animal skin. These days, skins are treated before being crafted and the most common include goatskin, crocodile skin and cowhide.

BIBLICAL POUCH

Bags have been mentioned in the Bible as “pouches”, most notably the one carried by Judas Iscariot in the New Testament.

VARIED SELECTION

There are more than 20 types of handbags available. Apart from the familiar clutches, satchels and totes, others include the minaudiere (a small rectangular evening bag, usually hard-bodied, sometimes held inside a soft fabric bag that serves as a sleeve), a Doctor’s bag (modelled after a Victorian-era doctor’s bag for making housecalls) and a hobo (medium-size crescent-shaped bag with a top zipper and often a slouch or dip in the centre).

MEN CARRIED BAGS, TOO

Surprise, surprise! Men once used coin purses, with the oldest-known one dating back to 3,300 BCE. Symbols and pictographs in Ancient Egypt portray males with a sack knotted around the waist. Early modern Europeans wore purses for one purpose — to carry coins. Purses were made of soft fabric or leather, and were used by men and women (the Scottish sporran is a survivor of this custom). In the 17th century, young girls were taught embroidery, which led to them making very beautiful handbags.

LUXE LIVING

Certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive handbag in the world is Mouawad’s 1001 Nights Diamond Purse. At US$3.8 million (S$5.2 million), this one-of-a-kind bag is the masterpiece of 10 professional artisans who spent 8,800 hours to complete it. The heart-shaped purse is hammered and fashioned from 18k gold, but the real highlights are the precious stones that adorn its surface — 56 pink diamonds, 105 yellow diamonds and 4,356 colourless diamonds.

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